I Won Dessert

We have a long – standing joke with our friends in Austin. We travel there each spring for SXSW, and have a great week with our many friends who live there. One evening many years ago, we were watching my favorite band and drinking crazy cocktails out of beakers and test tubes, and I sang through a megaphone until a friend confiscated it (then forgot where he hid it). The next morning, I declared that while I felt like I failed SXSW, I totally WON that night.

It has turned into something we say a lot. Each year, a specific night or a person will win SXSW.

Last week Jason and I went to dinner at my favorite restaurant,
Ten 01. You may recall – we went there for Jason’s birthday earlier this summer.

This time, when ordering our dessert, Jason said he wanted the sorbet trio. I ordered the peanut butter bread pudding. Our server immediately said to me “You win dessert”.

Huzzah! We laughed about that for the rest of the night…

I am still feeling weird about bringing my big DSLR into a restaurant, especially a nice one like Ten 01. I snuck photos with Jason’s phone camera, but none of them really turned out very good. Dinner was exceptional, as always. Everything always tastes amazing.

I will instead share with you the lunch we had this weekend at our neighborhood place where we are known regulars, McMenamins Pub. There are many in the area, and we love the one close to our house.

This time we sat outside on their patio, and brought Basil along. Although he barked more than once, our server loved him and brought him a dish of water and a couple pieces of bacon.

IPA for Jason.

Grey Goose and soda for me.

Jason ordered the Grilled Chicken Caesar Wrap:

McMenamins tops their house salad with pickled onions – so yum.

I loved my Spicy Salmon Caesar Salad:

The dressing on this was a caesar smoky chipotle mix – it was amazing.

Lunch was perfect, I was starved!

We had spent the morning in the Skyline Neighborhood – walking through the Street of Dreams homes. Each summer there is a Portland neighborhood with newly – built homes open for viewing.

(Before traditional college I went to art school and worked at a paint store. Through this job I was able to be a designers helper for the Street of Dreams that year – so fun!).

While the houses are almost all in that out of reach price range ($800,000 to $1.3 this year), it is fun to see the beautiful decor and find design inspiration… and dream!

I brought my camera, but only took a couple photos of some interesting collections.

Oh my goodness, snow? What? That’s nuts. Congrats on the dessert win – sounds like a fun waiter. And re: DSLRs in restaurants, every chef I’ve ever talked to about it thinks its just fine. It’s free publicity for them, why would they mind? Well, that’s the feeling in PDX, at least. We might be a bit different here

well, I AM in PDX, so… I suppose I could call ahead and ask… I always feel weird… and yes, I probably wouldn’t post photos of a BAD outing, so… good for them, yes? thanks for stopping by, I am off to read your blog now… (and wish I would have attended IFBC… we were sorta planning on it and something else came up – great fun, I bet!

Love the SXSW reference and can’t believe we’ve been in Austin the past several years for SXSW…and the preceding years when I lived in Austin and you were there, too! We probably stood in long lines next to each other and had no idea. True story.

I know, I have thought the same thing! Crazy. One of our good friends runs the sound for all of the Emos clubs. and we have MANY friends in Austin, most of which are in one or more bands… small world, it absolutely is.

the Salmon Caesar is SO good… I’ve actually had it two times in the past week and asked if they could put it on the regular menu (it’s the special…).

I have gotten fairly comfortable pulling out the camera anywhere and everywhere now. I thought the hubs was a-ok with it too until I pulled out the camera Friday night and he started looking around hoping no one was watching. LOL. I have been enjoying documenting foods, events, friends, etc. in a way I never had before. Talk about memories huh? Weather here has gotten hot and humid again. but at least we’re not in the 100’s right now.

Those old radios are so beautiful and each is so unique — I love that! I don’t have the patience for collections to be honest, I’d want to buy someone’s collection instead of taking the time to collect it myself!

About

Hello! I am Kristina, also known as spabettie. I love the FOOMP and CRACKLE of a vintage flash bulb, and I love the view from my own camera. I love karaoke, tennis, and dachshunds. and I love food. Here you will find my plant based recipes - from the vibrant and bright to the luxuriously tasty. When it comes to food, my mind is always in overdrive, and I have an endless list of ideas to share! More about me…